TV Problems with CableTV DirectTV or Dish Network
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Before you call your cable TV or your DirecTV or your Dish Network repair man, take a few minutes to review these helpful tips. I was a cable manager for 10 years and a satellite manager for another 10 years. I have heard a great number of customer problems and I can make a number of self-help suggestions that could save you money and eliminate the time it takes for repair man to get here. Yes, it is true that these people probably owe you some service. However, if you could deal with the problem yourself, wouldn't that be better than waiting a day or two? Let's give it a try here.
What do you see on your TV screen? If you said "nothing", it is the wrong answer. There are different notions of "nothing". Let's be more specific:
A. Is it black? Is there also no sound? If the answer is "yes" then you truly see nothing and odds are that the TV set is not turned on. It may seem silly, but people do get confused about this. If the picture is black, then check for the absence of lights on the front of set itself to verify that it is turned off.Make sure the set is plugged in and that the wall circuit is not turned off at a switch and that the set itself is turned on. Is the screen all snowy? OK, let's assume that nobody has unplugged the cable box or the satellite receiver. But if they have, plug it back in and tell the culprit that you just paid $50.00 for a service call and they owe you dinner. But if it is all plugged in - and turned on - then check the channel on the TV itself. Receivers and cable boxes (they are properly called "convertors, by the way) typically use the TV set's channel 3 or 4. In many cases you might be using an EXT or an AV channel. At any rate, try tuning the TV tuner to one of these and see if you don't get a picture. Turning the TV set to the wrong channel is the most common source of troubles and has nothing to do with the service that you use. It is a household error and easily fixed by simply changing the TV channel to match the output channel of the receiver or box.
B. Is the picture frozen or full of little colored boxes? This would apply only if you have a satellite system. You see, this is a classic indication of a dish which is either misaligned or has been partly blocked. Is there snow on the dish? (San Diego, ignore this one). Is It raining very hard? (It will stop all by itself). Has a tree grown up in front of the dish? (Trim it.) Is something sitting in front of the dish (move it). Has anyone been on the roof to do some work? (You probably can't fix this one by yourself.) Check your cable connectors to see if they are tight. There is nothing there that can hurt you so go ahead and try it.
The picture is fine but you can't change the channel.
A. Are the batteries in the remote too old? Try changing them.
B. Is there a pot of flowers or pile of books in front of the cable box or the satellite receiver? Move that stuff. Yes, it has happened; you are not first one.
I agree - this is very simple stuff. But you can't imagine how times the cat has changed the channel on a TV. It is uncanny how an animal without opposable fingers can do that.
Happy viewing.
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I changed the batteries on my remote for the tv, and it still won't go on mute, I also can't raise or lower the volume, and I can't turn it on and off without doing it manually. We've tried everything. Could you please advise on what we should do next.
thank you Maureen & Jammie Price
I am assuming that the remote you are using is the DirecTV remote. There are two possibilities: you have moved the slide switch at the top from the DirecTV cyclone logo in which case it is a simple matter of sliding it back. On the other hand, the remote may have lot its programming for the TV set and you will have to go into the set-up menu on the receiver and follow the directions. If that is the case, then bring up menu and setup and do what it says. Eventually it will take you to your TV brand and give you directions. But try the slide switch first; that is the most common error with any remote.
MY DISH NETWORK DOESNT WORK SOMETIMES I GET LOCAL CHANNELS AND NO NON LOCAL OR VISA VERSA OR NO CHANNELS AT ALL
Recently I purchased a new Mitsubishi non plasma HDTV flat screen tv and had Direct TV connect me to their HDTV. Immediately I began having difficulties with the sound and picture on some channels, mostly channel 32, or KCRW. The tech came out and changed virtually everything but the problem remains. Every few seconds it sounds like a hard drive glitch, though we have determined it is not that. It will make a very odd sound distortion and sometimes the picture will also scramble. Any suggestions?
You think with all the technology they would make a simpler way to watch TV. Especially with channel 3 and the input thing. For me it is a peice of cake, I always figure it out, but some people just can't. So this hub is helpful in that sense. Plug and play would be a nice little feature to have.
Last year I bought my husband a portable satellite dish so he could watch our Direct TV programming when he works out of town. Yeah, right......He has been trying for 2 weeks and constantly gets the "0" signal message. Supposedly the dish is pointed in the right direction, they used a signal locator to set it up. He brought the receiver home and tested it on a TV here, and it worked. I would wonder about the satellite dish, but he was able to use it for about 4 weeks right after he got it. He is now using it on a different TV in an RV. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Hey I really need some help.My TV has been down for a few days and the problem still hasent gone away, i have Dish TV and when i hit the select button then the name of whatever should be playing pops up at the tp and i can scroll, but the rest of the TV remains dark, any ideas?
Never mind, i left it off all weekend and it just now worked
Never mind, i left it off all weekend and it just now worked
My dish receiver suddenly stopped working laat week, The on/off switch in the front of the receiver does not work. The receiver goes on and off by itself . Sometimes we get a picture but it only lasts for a few minutes and then there is snow and the receiver turns itself off. What is going on? I can't control it with the remote when the receiver turns itself off. The on/off situation with the receiver lasts for several hours and happens every 10 seconds or so.
mu dish tv already tuned..but only get zee tamil etc punjab.....other channel not get....pls help me
Thanks for this article it was very helpful. Check out http://www.primelec.com for your direct tv remote needs
I have dish network, I have gone through 4 to 5 recivers in a year. I have to unplug and than plug in my tv at lest 3 time before it will work right. First time I turn on the tv black screen, 2nd time picture and volume but do not have control over volume 3rd time it will work most of the time dish said my tv is junk but I took it to a friends house who has Cox cable let him have it for a week no problems. My 2nd tv on dish I have not had any problems as of yet. any ideas???
How do you record a tv show without a channel next to it?
Don. I think dish was right when they said your tv is junk or just too old. Dish networks technology is way more advanced than cox cable, simply explaining why cox would work on it.
Woke up in the Caribbean and most of my stations went from normal CNN,CNBC etc to chiness stations. what happened
My dish receiver keeps turning itself on and off. Everytime it actually does come on it only stays on for like 10 minutes to an hour? Why is it doing this?
I recently moved and before the move the tv worked fine. Since the move, it seems as if the direct box and the tv are not communicating. The tv works and the box works (I hooked another tv to it) but nothing works between them.
Any ideas?
What does Iffy 10 mins. mean when bringing up recorded shows on DVR
On Oct. 13th my Direct TV stopped showing the names of the programs. Instead it has to be announced on all the channel with a note saying data will be restored in a few days. This is extremely irritating since I can not program my tv to record any programs. My season passes have all been eliminated. Help!!!!!
Tiling is not just a dish problem. We have good ol' Time Warner cable and have the problem. It is worse on the Hallmark Channel than any others. Techs have been here numerous times and to no avail. It is still a continuing problem. Is is not something that can be fixed?!?!?!?!
My one HD remote stopped working so I took a brand new remote (RC65R) and I couldn't get it to work. Called Directv tech and went through a bazillion codes and a couple other steps and couldn't get it working. I programmed it with the tv fine but I can't get it to communicate with the receiver. HELP!!
The Dish Network remote is dead - can I use a remote from Directv?
My remote for Dish netwk stopped showing the program listing; it wasn't the battery because other things worked like powering off/on. I unplugged the Dish box (receiver) for about 25 seconds, plugged it back in -- it did a 4 minute update and "starting up/uploading" -- and then the receiver worked great again. Try this before batteries or anything else, it's like a restart/ reboot to your computer and can fix a bunch of things wrong with a cable or dish system quickly and easily... 5 minutes or less. Be certain to leave the receiver unplugged long enough, 25 seconds should do it, while a fast 10 count may not.
i touched a a buuton on the remote now my tv will not come out of satelite mode i have cable on input tv will not set back to cable it goes to satelite and says no programs
My Direct tv programs change by there selves normally starting around 430 pm and last all night intill morning
I have dish network. When I turn my tv on, it says Please Press Select to Veiw TV. When I do, the tv is just black..no sound and no picture. I can change the channel and go to the guide and see what's on later. I can also watch recordings with sound and picture. Why does live tv not work and what can I do to fix this?
i have issues with dish network, the tv turns channels by itself as if someone is pressing buttons on the remote. alot of times i will take the batteries out the remote and it still will turn. its very annoying especially when a show you really want to watch is on. anyone have any ideas why it does that or how to stop it from doing that? when it does it its randomly sometimes you can watch for hours with no turning but some times it does every 5 mins to every 20 mins and it will last for like 2-3 mins when it acts up and stops.
I sat on my dish network remote and press some random buttons on it and now i have a snowy screen..... what should i press to get it back to normal?
I'll have to say I'm going with Dish!
My 32 in. Toshiba on dish network has started turning itself off every night at 8:00 pm. The tv is only 8 months old so I took it back to Best Buy. I bought another Toshiba to use while they check it out. I ordered a new dvr sattelite box and installed it. The problem is still happening. Do you know what is happening?
Travis that is happening because someone who lives near you & has Dish Network too is in the same network as you. You have to change the "channel"" it is on. Do an internet search for dish netork tv changing channels by itself and you will find the steps to fix it. I had same trouble a few months ago.
My Directv works fine for the most part,however,there is a white horizontal line that starts at the bottom of the screen and rises to the top,over and over.I tried changing televisions,and the problem persists.Any suggestions?
dish tv channels is not show picture but only change channel
No.Is 01507190037
pls reply me
my tv suddenly started "catching" every so many minutes...as if there is a momentary interference.. wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so frequently. Dosen't apply when videos are playing...just the Dish channels
any thouhgts?
The Live TV channels on my receiver stopped working, but I still can watch my recordings. For live TV the screen is just black; It's like its been shut off or something. So I guess my question is what possibly could have happened? It just happened randomly one day and has been that way ever since.
If you have any answers that would be great!
Thanks
i have dish network tv i pressed wrong buttons on my remote and music came on with song title and artist in a rectangle square which moves around black screen i cannot return to regular programing
I have a 2 year old Sony Bravia. The volume controls on both the television and satellite remotes stop working at night. On the occasions when they do work, they operate so slowly as to be useless. This usually involves the mute key, as well. This is a nightly occurrence. They work perfectly during the day and early evening. We had assumed that it was a Directv issue, bet we switch to Dish today and have the same problem. Do you have any thoughts? Thanks very much for your assistance.
We have cable. Three days ago the tv went to "snow"-all channels except two that have rainbow stripes, like in the old days when a station goes off the air. All of the tvs in the house are also all "snow". We have new flat screens so I don't think it is the tv. I have checked the connection on the outside of the house and it appears to be in tact. I have gone out to the telephone pole in the back on our property where all the cables are and it is montage of cables going up and down the telephone pole--some connected, some cut, some going into small boxes marked "telephone", nailed to the pole. Do you have any suggestions before we call? Thanks so much.
I have hooked up two tv's to one receiver direct tv and have done this before with no problem. And yes you have to watch the same channel. My problem is I have to leave the primary tv on or I don't have sound on the second one what might my problem be?
screen goes blank but i can still hear it.
Why are some of the channels saying " to be announced." on the channel line up on our cable box when only a few weeks ago they were saying what was being brodcast on that station?
the batteries in my dish remote only last about 6 days
its the remote to the second tv.can anyone help me
I have direct tv. T.V. is shutting itself off all by its self. When picture comes on it makes a black screen and crosses horizontal across tv.
I have satellite dish first channel has sound but no picture the next channel has both sound/picture solve problem?
I have a regular old tv in my bedroom, and i recently purchased a flat screen. Dish is charging me so the tech can come out to my place and make the change from old to the new tv. i don't mind fixing the problem myself, does anybody know the step by step, so i dont have to pay dish, and i'll just do it my self?
what if the dish systems light turns on and then off after like 30 sec
I had dish connected to 2 tv's. The box and remotes were stolen and now I can not get the regular cable to work on my tv's. Could tell me what the problem is?
If we take our DVR to our cabin to watch what we have recorded, do we have to program the Dish remote to the tv for the DVR to work or will it work to control the DVR? I realize it won't control the TV unless it's programmed but just want it to work for the DVR. Thanks!
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matt 3 years ago
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